Feds give NY $27 million to hire workers for Sandy cleanup

Sunday

Nov 25, 2012 at 3:47 PMNov 25, 2012 at 3:48 PM

James Nani

New York state has secured a $27 million federal grant to put more than 5,000 unemployed New Yorkers to work helping clean up communities recovering from Hurricane Sandy.Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced Sunday that federal National Emergency Grant money will be provided to communities hit hard by the storm so they can quickly hire young people and the unemployed to help with clean up efforts. Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties are all eligible.The State Department of Labor, which will administer the funds, “will work with communities to identify cleanup areas and deploy workers to job sites,” according to the governor’s office. Local public officials can submit information on projects and project sites to the Department of Labor by emailing sandyprojects@labor.ny.gov.For information on getting a job program you can call the Department of Labor at 1-888-469-7365 or visit www.labor.ny.gov/sandyjobs. To be eligible, individuals must be unemployed. Workers will earn approximately $15 per hour to work on short and long-term projects. In addition to offering benefits and on-the-job experience, each worker will be given assistance in finding their next job. Eligible youth will also be certified in the New York Youth Works program.The announcement was also coupled with another jobs program. The state is partnering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to launch a local hire program to replace FEMA employees, often from out of state, with New Yorkers. The goal is to hire upwards of 700 New Yorkers according to the governor’s office. Those interested in applying for a job with FEMA can visit the Jobs Express website at http://www.labor.ny.gov/jobs/regional.shtmThe full-time, temporary positions range from community relations specialists providing outreach to the disaster-stricken communities, to administrative assistants.jnani@th-record.com